Sullivan | Greater speed fuels Kentucky romp

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Our sermon today is taken from Ecclesiastes by way of Damon Runyon: “The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that’s the way to bet.”

That sentence neatly summarizes Kentucky’s 59-14 mauling of Tennessee-Martin Saturday afternoon, and it underscores the talent infusion that has taken place on Mark Stoops’ Wildcat watch. For though it is risky to attach much significance to a season-opening sacrificial offering, a preordained thumping UT-Martin absorbed in exchange for $410,000, it was obvious by afternoon’s end that renovations to Commonwealth Stadium include a faster foundation on the playing field.

Kentucky has so many striking new playmakers now that quarterback Patrick Towles lamented that he was unable to get the ball to all of his open receivers Saturday. UK scored eight touchdowns against the overmatched Skyhawks — one on defense; seven spanning at least 14 yards — and the onslaught included so many long gains that Jason Simpson, the head coach of the victimized visitors, was moved to express a preference for surrendering touchdowns on sustained drives rather than quick strikes.

“I can handle 12- or 13-play drives, that is part of football and that is great execution,” Simpson said, “but when you are letting guys go, big plays for 50-yard runs and things like that, that is unacceptable.”

Saturday, however, it was pretty much unpreventable. There are not many reliable antidotes for a stark difference in team speed and UT-Martin found none of them.

“They were really fast,” Skyhawks quarterback Jarod Neal said of Kentucky. “They were faster than our guys and when they needed to make a play, they made a play.”

Since Kentucky scored 52 points before losing its shutout, there weren’t many plays the Wildcats really “needed.” Still, eight different UK players had rushes or receptions that covered at least 21 yards Saturday and one of them, transfer running back Braylon Heard, turned two touches into two touchdowns of 73 and 43 yards.

It’s a long way between encouragement and euphoria in the Southeastern Conference, but Kentucky’s progress is palpable since last season. These Wildcats would run rings around their recent predecessors and, based on the early returns, would make tougher catches in traffic.

“Watching our team practice the other day and watching our offense go up and down the field on air, it’s evident they were better,” Stoops said. “I’ve said it over and over: There were times when we couldn’t do the basics, and we are significantly better and we’re getting significantly better playmakers.”

Probably the best of them is Heard, an elite running back who left Nebraska last year rather than acquire rust backing up the much-blessed Ameer Abdullah. Limited to a spectator’s role in 2013 by the NCAA’s overly rigid transfer rules, Heard’s frustration was tempered by his patience — a personal quality that paid off in paydirt Saturday afternoon.

“The two runs he had that he broke were extremely disciplined runs,” said Neal Brown, Kentucky’s offensive coordinator. “We had some runs later in the game that weren’t disciplined. . . .

“Some of our young guys, and it’s natural, they get impatient. They just try to run. They’re decent plays, good yardage plays, but they’re not big plays.”

This qualifies as a quibble. Three of Kentucky’s touchdowns Saturday were scored by freshmen — two by running back Mikel Horton, one by receiver Blake Bone — and another freshman, receiver T.V. Williams, contributed a 42-yard reception. Though at least 24 players made their UK debuts Saturday, the Wildcats were sufficiently patient to average 10.8 yards per offensive play.

“It was overwhelming,” Bone said of his second-quarter score. “I had everything set up to do a little dance or something, but when you get that first touchdown as a freshman, I guess every emotion just hits you and it just feels good to get in the end zone.”

That feeling should become more familiar for Kentucky this fall. These Wildcats can run.